Henry II
Henry II of France (French: Henri II) was the King of France. He was the husband of Catherine, and the father of Francis, Louis, Sebastian, Elisabeth, Claude, Margaret, Charles, Henry III and twins: Emone and Henrietta. He was the father-in-law of Mary Stuart, Kenna, and Philip II. Henry was determined to get his hands on England and have his son and daughter-in-law rule over the three nations. He eventually spiraled into madness and he was then willing to go to extreme lengths to achieve this goal, whether it be crossing lines or not. He got it in his head that he had to kill Francis and wed Mary so that he could have all three kingdoms to himself. His family quickly realized that it would not be safe for the nation to have a mad king and that they had to kill him. After a few failed plots against him that drove him even further into madness. During The Joust, Francis in disguise battled his father and gave him an injury that gave him an infection eventually killing him in Slaughter of Innocence. Henry later returned as a ghost in Mercy, Getaway, and Banished. Henry was a member of the House of Valois by birth and a member of the House of Medici by marriage. He was portrayed by Canadian actor, Alan van Sprang. Early Life Henry was born the second son of the previous king. His father was captured by the Spanish in his childhood and Henry and his older brother, the Dauphin Francis, went to meet him on a supposed brief visit. When Henry ran to greet his father, his father ran past Henry and Francis and jumped into another boat, leaving the boys behind with the Spanish as hostages in his place. Whilst captive of the Spanish, Henry and Francis were beaten and starved. When Francis was eighteen Henry poisoned his water during a tennis match, killing him, in order to gain the throne. Throughout Reign Henry/Season One|Season One ---- Season Two Personality Henry is headstrong, stubborn, and does not appreciate people undermining his authority as royalty. He appears to be a bit of a hedonist, having 2 mistresses and a wife. Despite this, he seems to be really caring toward his children, even more toward his first-born and bastard son Sebastian. Henry is extremely greedy and power-hungry, his constant obsession with expanding the Kingdom of France is a major conflict between him and the other characters. Physical Appearance Henry was a tall and well-built man in his early forties. He had brown eyes, tanned skin, and - through his brown stubble beard - one could tell that his hair would be dark brown if it had not been shaved. As the King of France, and always wanting to display his wealth and power, he wore the most lavish clothing, and was very rarely seen without his crown. Relationships |-|Romantic= Diane de Poitiers Diane was Henry's official mistress. They first met when they were teenagers and continued to have an affair regardless of the fact that he was married to Catherine. Years after Diane gave birth to Henry's first child, an illegitimate son named Sebastian. Not long after Mary's return to court Henry decided that he wanted to have an affair with one of her ladies Kenna. Diane actually helped him out not feeling threatened of her position with him as his official mistress. (See Henry and Diane) Kenna Kenna was Henry's mistress for a while in the series. They began having a physically drawn relationship. Little did Kenna know he never had the intention of only being with her he was still seeing Diane behind her back. Not long after Kenna noticed that Henry began acting diferently when he wanted to have a threesome and then strangled the other girl to death. She then started to become frightened around Henry and no longer wanted to be with him. Since he had promised to find her a suitor and didn't want Bash to go after Mary he forced the two of them to be married. Although after he had them married Henry continued to try and sleep with Kenna. (See Kenna and Henry) Penelope Penelope was one of Henry's short term mistresses. They first met when Penelope won the Bean Queen contest and became Queen for a day. Henry thinking she was beautiful decided to hook up with her. Since he had already begun spiralling into madness he continued treat Penelope as his Queen long past the intended one day time period. He however eventually got bored of her and she was sent back to her regular life. No longer being his mistress Penelope lied to Henry telling him she was pregnant as a last shot to regain what she had a taste of. |-|Familial= Catherine de' Medici Catherine was Henry's wife before he passed away. They first met when they were teenagers, eventually getting married at 14 in an arranged marriage. They have multiple children together including Francis, Elisabeth, Claude, Charles and Henry III. They had a loving relationship at the beginning of their marriage but that quickly changed as Henry began having an affair with Diane and Catherine with Richard. They rekindled their romances for a while in Inquisition when they both admitted to each other that they still felt love for each other. That was short lived however. (See Henry and Catherine) Sebastian Although Sebastian is a bastard, he was always Henry's preferred son. until midway trough season one both of them always got along well since their was no competition between them because Bash isn't his heir. However when Bash tried to be legitimized and wed Mary to protect his brother but failed. Thus almost risking Henry England he exiled Bash. When Bash returned from exile his father didn't give him a warm welcome. Instead forced him to wed Kenna to solve two problems. Although he let Bash return to court his father was already spiralling into madness and they never really reconciled their relationship. (See Henry and Sebastian) Francis Francis is Henry's eldest legitimate child and son. They had a strained relationship mostly because of the fact that Francis was Henry's heir and because he is closer to his mother. Henry always saw him as his usurper instead of his heir causing Henry to be weary around him. When Henry spiralled into madness he hatched the idea to kill Francis and wed Mary. Although at first Francis was reluctant to kill his father he eventually realised that it wasn't safe for France to have a mad king any longer. So he not only jumped on board with the idea but he executed his father himself during The Joust. He later visited his Henry when he was on his death bed and felt alot of grief and guilt over what he had done. (See Francis and Henry) Appearances Name *'Henry' is a masculine given name from the Germanic name Heimirich which meant "home ruler", composed of the elements heim "home" and ric "power, ruler". It was later commonly spelled Heinrich, with the spelling altered due to the influence of other Germanic names like Haganrich, in which the first element is hagan "enclosure". Trivia *King Henry II became very close to Diane de Poitiers before his wedding to Queen Catherine, and their affair officially began the very next year; and they stayed that way for 25 years until his death. *The plot Henry had in the show to take England and put his daughter in law Mary on the throne is historically true: When Francis and Mary wed, Henry intended that the couple would rule France, Scotland, and England. This became more of an issue after Queen Mary I died, because Henry and his Catholic advisors saw Elizabeth I unfit to rule because of her supposed illegitimacy. *It was believed that Sebastian was his favorite child, however he threatened to kill him multiple times, in For King and Country, The Consummation, and Monsters. *In Inquisition, he admitted he was once in love with Catherine. * Historically Henry had 3 other mistresses by whom he had children: Philippa Duci had a daughter: Diane, Duchess d'Angoulême, Lady Janet Stewart had son: Henri d'Angoulême, and Nicole de Savigny who also had a son: Henri de Saint-Rémy. *Historically Henry ruled France for 12 years. *He died at the age of 40. ** When Henry took part in the joust, the Royal court was celebrating the proxy marriage of his daughter Elisabeth to Phillip II. **The sport of jousting fell into decline due to his tragic death (Historically). *Historically, Henry was not a tyrant, or cold or cruel, and he was much more affectionate with his legitimate children than Catherine was. *Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor once complained that Henry was not as warlike as his father, Francois I. **Henry hated the House of Habsburg, particularly Spain, much more than he ever hated England since he was a child hostage for nearly four years of Charles V. *King Henry's madness is revealed in Monsters. *He has a sexual appetite and has sexual relationships with Kenna, Penelope, and some other woman. *His death on the show is historically accurate as Henry died from wounds suffered by a jouster named Lord Montgomery. *Henry was the second main character to die, with the first being Aylee. *In Drawn and Quartered and Coronation, Alan van Sprang doesn't make an actual appearance, but is possessing one of the wet nurses. *It was revealed in Banished that Henry was involved in the deaths of his twins with Catherine, by luring the nanny away from her post so he could sleep with her. *Historically, Henry was a distant half cousin of his son in law King Philip II of Spain: His maternal great grand-mother Eleanor of Navarre was a half sister of King Ferdinand II of Aragon who married Isabella, Queen of Castile. Gallery See Also Category:Character Category:Main Character Category:Season One Character Category:Season Two Character Category:Male Character Category:Antagonist Category:French Category:French Court Resident Category:House of Valois Category:Royal Category:King Category:Catholic Category:Deceased Category:House of Medici